How to write a holiday rental agreement

Many owners ask us if we can supply them with a standard holiday rental booking agreement. A standard agreement should protect both parties interests and clearly spell out the obligations of both owner and guest. However, rather than using a standard agreement, we recommend adopting standard terms and conditions and then building on these to create an agreement which also represents your personal preferences.

Your particular ‘house rules’ may include points, such as ‘no pets’, or ‘pets allowed’ (in which case you will need to consider a separate annexe in which you state the ‘house rules’ for pets and any fee applied for bringing pets), no smoking, minimum age of guests i.e. 18 or 21 (obviously excluding children), community rules that guests must heed, information on using equipment, such as a fireplace, toilet flushing, Jacuzzi or water hosepipe.

A guide to what your agreement should include

Your name and contact details

Name and address of the property

Dates and duration of stay

Full contact details of the primary guest

The person booking your accommodation

Names and ages of other guests

Passport numbers for each

You will also need to advise them to have a copy ready of each passport for when they arrive

Arrival/departure dates & times

Plus your check-in/out requirements

Total amount due

It’s important to include a breakdown of costs i.e. pet supplements,
airport transfers, extra accessories, such as: high chairs, towel
packages, etc.

Booking deposit

Amount, deadline to pay and clearly state if the deposit is refundable or non-refundable

Breakage deposit

Amount, conditions i.e. what constitutes damage - cleaning, breakages and
that costs incurred will be deducted from the deposit

Key information:

Where, when and how to pick up and return keys; what happens if a guest loses a key

Cancellation Policy

Detail the cancellation deadline and advise guests of the penalties they could incur for a last minute cancellation.

Travel insurance

Advise guests that it’s a good idea to take out a travel insurance
policy, which covers them during their stay. But do remember that you
will also need to have a specific holiday rental travel insurance (since
the introduction of the holiday rental licence law in Spain) including
public liability that will cover a guest for an accident or robbery of
personal belongings in your home. For more information read our article on Spanish holiday rental insurance.

House rules

Here you want to set out the conditions for the personal preferences we
mentioned before: pets, smoking, how to use equipment, parking,
community and pool rules, etc.

Housekeeping service

It’s important to state when and how many times the home will be cleaned
during the guest’s stay. Some guests will expect more regular or daily
housekeeping. You could include an additional cost for this.

Subletting

It’s important to highlight this. Although you would imagine that most
guests wouldn’t dream of making money out of your home during their
stay. It can happen. Include a condition that states guests must not
sublet the property or any part of it during their stay.

'Act of God' clause

Make sure you include a clause that explains you can’t be held
responsible for natural disasters and circumstances that are beyond your
control.

Finally, don’t forget to attach the invoice with your booking agreement. Creating the contract isn’t difficult, it's just the getting started that’s a pain. But we do recommend tailoring your agreement to suit your holiday rental and house rules.